Telephone responsive control for radio speakers



May 22, 1934.

A. P. DERON TELEPHONE RESPON'SIVE CONTROL FOR RADIOSPEAKERS Filed Feb. 17, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ITS ilmwfww wa y 1934- A. P. DERON 1,960,214

TELEPHONE RESPONSIVE CONTROL FOR RADIOSPEAKERS Filed Feb. 1'7, 1931 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INSULATION fllerarzder .P- llezton Gummy Patented May 22, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TELEPHONE RESPONSIVE CONTROL FOR RADIO SPEAKERS This invention relates to the remote control of the sound volume of the speakers of radio receivers or other electrical sound reproducers, and it has for its general object the provision of means for locating the remote control adjacent, but unattached to the telephone instrument, so that a person may, at the time of using the telephone, interrupt or dampen the operation of the speaker so as to obtain the desired degree of quietude.

One of the more specific objects of the invention is the provision of means controlled by the weight of the telephone instrument or merely by the weight of the receiver thereof for short circuiting the audio circuit to thespeaker when the telephone or the receiver as the case may be, is lifted for conversation purposes.

Another object of the invention is to provide a telephone instrument weight responsive remote control system for speakers which functions without interrupting the actuation of the thermionic tubes in the receiving set, so that no time is lost in the resumption of the program through the rewarming of the tubes.

A further object of the invention is the provision in a remote control system of the class described of means for connecting it to the speaker circuit from the back of the cabinet without dis turbing or aiiecting in any manner the front or dial panel of the cabinet.

Still another object of the invention is the provision if desired, of a resistance in the remote control circuit so that the audio circuit to the speaker is not altogether shorted, but only in 35 part, so that the speaker may operate but at diminished volume when the telephone instrument or the receiver thereof is lifted.

A further object of the invention is to construct the remote control switch in the form of a convenient and ornamental stand for the telephone instrument.

Other objectsoi the invention will appear as the following description of preferred and practical embodiments thereof proceed.

Referring to the drawings in which several adaptations of the invention are indicated,

Figure l is a perspective view showing the remote control system installed;

Figure 2 is a perspective view of a telephone stand embracing the principles of the invention arranged to respond to the lifting of a telephone of the French or horizontal type;

Figure 3 is a vertical section through the telephone stand, showing the weight-responsive switch construction;

Figure 4 is a cross section taken along the line 4-4 of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is a plan view, the casing being shown in section, the resistance-element being omitted;

Figure 6 is an underneath plan view of the contact mechanism;

Figure '7 is a perspective view of the switch mechanism in a modified form of the invention in which no resistance is present;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of another modi- Q5 fied form of the invention;

Figures 9 and 10 are diagrammatic views showing the relation of the remote control circuit of the present invention to the audio circuit of the radio speaker in that form in which the audio circuit is completely short-circuited; and

Figures 11 and 12 are similar views showing that form of the invention in which a resistance is employed.

Referring-now in detail to the several figures, and first adverting to the pictorial view shown in Figure 1, the numeral 1 represents the radio receiving set including a speaker, 2 being a telephone. A stand 3 is provided for the telephone in the base of which is located a switch connectso ed in a circuit 4 which lies in shunt relation to the audio circuit of the speaker of the receiving set. The switch is normally kept open by a spring which supports, at its upper end, the table 5. When the telephone is on the table the spring depressed so that the switch contacts are broken and the shunt circuit 4 is inoperative. When either the telephone or the receiver is lifted, the diminished weight permits the table to rise under the expansion of the spring closing the switch contacts and rendering the circuit 4 active. It then bridges the sides of the audio circuit to the speaker, either cutting off reception entirely, or diminishing reception, according to the type of switch used, as will presently appear. The user of the telephone is thus assured of quiet conditions for conversation.

Figures 3, 4, 5 and 6 show that the base of the telephone stand comprises a plate 6 to which are fastened clips 7 and 8 supporting a fiber strip 9.

anism constructed as follows. An up-right 16 of preferably inverted U-shape is riveted or otherwise fixedly secured to the plate 6. A swinging frame 17 is pivotally secured'to said up-right, the sides of which are of swinging parallelogram construction, said frame consisting of upper and lower U-shaped members 18 and 19, each independently pivoted to the up-right 16 by means such as the pintles 20 and 21 and having their outer ends pivotally secured to the sides of a U- shaped link member 22 by pintles 23 and 24. The distance apart of the pintles 23 and 24 is the same as that of the pintles 20 and 21, perpetuating the parallel relation of the members 18 and 19 and ensuring that the link 22 shall move rectilinearly upward and downward.

An inverted spring cup 25 is riveted or otherwise suitably secured beneath the cross member 26 of the link 22, and the base plate 6 is formed with a recess or well 27 in vertical registry with the spring cup. A spring 28 is held in compressed state with one end in the spring cup and the other end in said recess. Said spring normally biases the swinging frame upwardly, the upward movement of said frame being limited by the switch contact 29 making contact with the blade 11 of the fixed contact assembly. The contact 29 is carried on a fiber strip 30, the latter being mounted upon a bracket 31 fixed to the swinging frame mechanism. The wire 32 forming the other side of the shunt circuit is connected to the contact 29. It is obvious therefore that when the spring is free to expand within the limits prescribed by the above structure, it will close the shunt circuit. The table 5 which is preferably slightly dished or formed with a peripheral flange so as to receive the base of the telephone rests directly upon the cross member 26 of the link 22 being secured thereto in any suitable manner.

When the telephone is placed upon the table 5 its weight is sufficient to overcome the tension of the spring, permitting the swinging frame to descend against the tension of said spring opening the circuit controlled by the contact 10 and 29.

The tension of the spring is so determined that when the receiver of the telephone instrument is removed from its hook the diminution in weight thereby produced is sufficient to permit the spring 28 to expand raising the swinging frame and closing the switch. Of course if the telephone itself is lifted from the table 5, the result is the same. The spring can likewise be selected of such strength as to expand when a telephone of the French type is lifted from its support.

It will be noted in Figure 3 that the switch mechanism is housed within a casing 33 and that this casing is provided with an opening in its top large enough to permit the extension of the upper part of the link 22 a sufficient distance to allow it to be operated from outside without the casing. The ends of the wires 15 and 32 are provided with adaptors 34 and 35 as will be seen from Figure 7, apertured in such a manner as to fit beneath the sockets of the power tubes in the radio receiving set. The wires 15 and 32 make electrical connection with those parts of the adaptor which receive the audio out-put prongs of the power tubes. In this manner, the circuit of the telephone control switch is shunted across the audio circuit of the speaker without having it enter by way of the front of the cabinet and therefore involving no alteration or addition or change whatsoever in the front of the receiving set.

In the event of there being but one power tube it is obvious of course that only one adaptor would be needed to which both of the wires 15 and 32 would be connected to make contact with the audio out-put prongs.

Figures 3 and 4 represent the position of. the switch parts when the telephone is on the table 5. The .weight of the telephone has depressed the swinging frame and the contacts 10 and 29 are separated. When the telephone instrument or merely the receiver thereof is lifted the'spring 28 expands, the contacts 29 and 10 come together, the sides of the speaker audio circuit being thus short-circuited by a circuit which however contains the resistance 13, in series so that the audio circuit is not completely shorted, but only to a degree, so that the volume of the emitted sound is reduced. This permits the user of the telephone to obtain the desired quietude without completely cutting off the reception so that lis-.

teners are not subjected to the annoyance 01' an interruption to the program.

Figure 7 shows a form of the invention which may be similar to the form previously described except that the resistance is not present so that when the switch contacts 10 and 29 make contact, the circuit bridging the sidesof the speaker audio circuit is complete, cutting off entirely the operation of the speaker.

In Figure 8 a form of the invention is shown in which the switch is entirely independent of the weight of the telephone or of any appurtenant part thereof. In this form of the inventi n, the base 36 forming the telephone stand is provided with an ordinary manually actuated switch 37 preferably of the snap type, said switch being in a circuit shunted across the sides of the audio speaker circuit. The switch is manually actuated by the user of the telephone before he begins to use the instrument. This switch may completely short circuit the speaker or it may be in series circuit with a resistance as in the former instances so as to have a dampening effect only on the volume of the reception.

Figure 9 is a diagrammatic representation of a portion of a radio receiving circuit including two power tubes 38 and 39 arranged as usual, in parallel, the switch involved in the present invention being represented at 40 and being in a circuit which bridges the sides of the audio out-put circuit leading from these tubes to the speaker. Figure 10 shows a similar diagram with the invention applied to the out-put terminals of a single power tube.

Figure 11 shows a system similar to that shown in Figure 10, excepting that a fixed resistance is in series in the shunt circuit. In the diagrammatic illustration shown in Figure 12, a variable resistance has been substituted for the fixed resistance so that the extent of the dampening of the reception volume may be adjustably varied.

These circuit diagrams are only suggestive of an infinite number of ways in which the device of the present invention may be connected into the radio receiving circuit in order to accomplish the desired result. It is not necessary that the audio-circuit be shunted, for it is obvious that any stage of radio frequency amplification may be wholly or in part short circuited through the intercalation therein of the device of the present invention, with like results. It is apparent therefore, that the invention does not broadly lie in any of the specific arrangements as shown but that it includes essentially only the principle oi. controlling the audio out-put circuit through a switch responsive to the telephone or part thereof either completely to inhibit the operation of the speaker or dampen the reception volume to a desired degree.

While I have in the above description disclosed what I believe to be preferred and practical embodiments of the invention, it is to be understood that the examples given are merely illustrative and not to be considered as limitative in their bearing upon the scope of the appended claims.

1. The combination with a radio receiver including a speaker, of a base, a plate yieldingly mounted for movement toward and from said base, a telephone outfit including a stand mounted on said plate and a telephone receiver removably supported by said stand, a circuit connected in shunt to said radio receiver around the speaker, and a switch in said circuit having one contact fixed to said base and the other contact fixed to said plate, yielding means holding said plate normally in such position that the contact fixed thereto is in contact with the contact fixed to said base, said plate being moved by the weight of said outfit to hold said contacts normally separated and operable by relieving the stand of the weight of the telephone receiver to move the contact fixed thereto into contact with the contact fixed to said base.

2. In combination, a base, a plate, means for pivotally connecting said plate to said base, a

telephone outfit mounted on said plate and including a stand and telephone receiver removably supported by said stand, means for yieldingly supporting said plate and outfit for movement toward and from said base, a radio receiver including a speaker, a circuit connected in shunt to said radio receiver around said speaker, and a switch mounted on said base and held normally open by the weight of the telephone outfit and said plate and adapted to be closed by the removal of the receiver from the stand.

3. In an electric switch, a base, a contact fixed to said base, a second contact supported on said base to move toward and from the first named contact, a spring supported at one end by said base and connected to the second contact to hold the two contacts normally in contact, and means at the other end of said spring to depress the spring and separate said contacts.

4. In combination with a radio receiving set, a radio silencing device consisting of a base or support for a telephone, said base or support being provided with a weight opened switch connected in shunt relation with a circuit of said set, whereby when the receiver of the telephone is lifted from its hook or when the telephone is lifted from the base, radio reception is automatically diminished or discontinued.

ALEXANDER P. DERON. 

